‘Family Weekend’ to Introduce Students’ Families to MSU

Top: Families of MSU students are invited to the 2015 Family Bulldog Weekend.(Photo by Beth Wynn) Bottom: Participants may receive T-shirts to mark the experience.
(Photo by Megan Bean)

STARKVILLE, Miss. (Press Release) — Families of current Mississippi State University students are invited to campus to learn more about the “true maroon” experience and the Bulldog family.

The Division of Student Affairs’ Office of Parent Services will host the 2015 Bulldog Family Weekend Feb. 27-March 1.

The registration deadline is Feb. 15. Family members planning to attend are encouraged to enroll as soon as possible at www.parents.msstate.edu/familyweekend.

“We’ll be highlighting activities already going on at the Mississippi State campus that weekend,” said Cat Walker, OPS director. “Family Bulldog Weekend draws many families who live outside the state and may not have the same connections and networks that more local families may have. We already have attendees coming from 25 states outside Mississippi–half the states in the country.

“It’s nice to give them a weekend where they can come and fall in love with Mississippi State,” she continued.

Along with tickets to the four-game MSU baseball-series weekend against Samford University and University of Arizona, registration fees cover the cost of the welcome reception at the Leo Seal Jr. Football Complex and the S’mores and hot chocolate bar at Left Field Lounge in Polk-Dement Stadium at Dudy Noble Field.

Also, attendees are invited to a performance of the Starkville-Mississippi State University Symphony Orchestra and All Choirs, Walker said. The musical groups will present “Mozart Requiem” on Feb. 28 in Lee Hall’s historic Bettersworth Auditorium.

Other scheduled activities include:

–A keynote address by retired senior administrator and alumnus Roy Ruby, who served MSU for 40 years in a variety of administrative roles, including, among others, interim president, Division of Student Affairs vice president and College of Education dean.

–Tours of athletic facilities.

–An information-sharing session with MSU Career Center Director Scott Maynard regarding services to assist students in finding employment.

Walker said, because of her office’s collaboration with the Greater Starkville Development Partnership, discounts for visiting families will be available in a variety of Starkville venues.

“Families will also receive discounts at local restaurants and businesses, and The MSU Golf Course is giving a discount for nine holes and a cart at a $15 rate, plus 20 percent off merchandise at the gift shop,” she said. “All the families are welcome to the exercise and recreation facilities available at the Joe Frank Sanderson Center here on campus.”

For more information about Family Bulldog Weekend, contact Walker at 662-325-0411 or cwalker@saffairs.msstate.edu.

MSU, the state’s flagship research university, is online at www.msstate.edu.